Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the forty research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $201.76.

GOOGL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. TD Securities upped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $1.07 on Tuesday, hitting $165.14. The company had a trading volume of 16,549,260 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,938,906. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The company's fifty day moving average price is $161.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $168.44. The company has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.33, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $120.21 and a 12-month high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total transaction of $114,576.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at $5,264,112. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 682 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at $5,264,112. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total transaction of $3,741,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,106,806 shares in the company, valued at $350,361,837.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 220,426 shares of company stock valued at $35,993,340 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.8% during the second quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in Alphabet by 75.0% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 1,655 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MKT Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 7,363 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.